It is generally recognized that some of the most famous solid-body electric guitars have their own "sound", and that this "sound" differs from that generated by many other such guitars.
It is also recognized that the "sound" created by a solid-body electric guitar is determined primarily by its pickups (transducers).
Accordingly, there has long been a strong inclination for the manufacturers of famous, successful solid-body electric guitars to make little or no changes in their pickups.
However, it is also a fact that "noise" sensed by the pickups can seriously adversely affect a performance by a guitarist, or a practice session, etc. Noise, such as that resulting from electromagnetic radiation, has been recognized as being a major problem since almost the time when the electric guitar became popular.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a pickup and method such that the manufacturer can duplicate the "sound" of one or more classic (or other) solid-body guitars, and at the same time achieve effective and practical reduction or elimination of noise.
The present invention in one of its aspects has symmetrically balanced coils arranged in a concentric (coaxial) configuration, with a ferromagnetic plate having certain characteristics and which is centrally common to both coils; it incorporates the humbucking pickup principle in a way that achieves maximum noise immunity.
The efficiency of the transducing of string vibrations to achieve a strong signal at the pickup is an additional important criterion of a great pickup. There is in the present pickup an improved construction and method for increasing the magnetic flux through the coils of the pickup, and near the vibrating strings, and which correspondingly increases the output voltage and signal amplitude of the pickup.
There is, in accordance with another aspect of the invention, an improved construction and method for adding or subtracting inductive components to enhance the sound and tonal characteristics of the pickup, without compromising noise immunity.
There is improved incorporation and location of pole pieces of varying lengths in the pickup to control the output, balance, and sensitivity for different diameter musical strings.
There is in the present invention improved isolation between the pickup coils to reduce phase cancellation of common frequencies, which allows the pickup to exhibit an improved harmonic content and thus richer sound and tonal quality.
In accordance with another aspect of one or more embodiments of the invention, the ferromagnetic plate serves also as a part of the bobbin for the coil, to achieve added compactness and alter the induction and the sound.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention, a pickup is provided herein that includes a pair of steel or ferromagnetic plates attached to the longitudinal sides of a lower bobbin. The plates preferably extend upward pass the lower coil and central ferromagnetic plate. A thin electrical insulator may separate the side plates from the central ferromagnetic plate to prevent an electrical connection between both elements. The plates concentrate the electromagnetic fields produced by the permanent magnetic pole pieces around both coils to achieve a more efficiently produced voltage at the pickup connections.